LawNews
D.C. Circuit Signals Doubts on IRS Tax Preparer Regulations
In oral argument today, the D.C. federal appeals court appeared ready to throw cold water on the IRS’s claim to have the authority to regulate… Read More
Articles by Andrew M. Grossman
Can the President Raise the Debt Ceiling by Himself?
As the federal government once again approaches the debt ceiling, partisans are again pulling out the heavy artillery: Don’t bother negotiating with Republicans on taxes… Read More
Report Finds Obama Can Waive Welfare Work Requirements…or Not
Liberals are touting an analysis by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) that they say “refutes” arguments against the Obama Administration’s legal authority to waive work… Read More
Supremes Shut Down Judicial Activism Over Voting Maps
Today, the Supreme Court tossed out the work of a district court that attempted to force its own electoral maps on the state of Texas, while… Read More
Even Obama Agrees that the Senate Was Not in Recess
Defenders of President Obama’s unprecedented “recess” appointments of Richard Cordray to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three members to the National Labor Relations… Read More
The Big Issues Behind the Obamacare Challenge
“Are you serious? Are you serious?” then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) famously replied when asked where, specifically, the Constitution granted Congress the authority… Read More
EPA’s Mission Impossible: A Deadline to Destroy Domestic Energy
Last week, Bloomberg reported that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulatory push against the fossil fuel industry will cost America’s largest utility, the Southern Company,… Read More
Is the President Serious about Jobs and Economic Growth? A Simple Test
Here’s a simple test for whether the President is serious about jobs and the economy: Does he rein in the Environmental Protection Agency? With the… Read More
No, the President Can’t Violate the Debt Ceiling
For some partisans—especially those who believe in the “living Constitution”—the Constitution sanctions all they favor and forbids all they oppose. So it is with the… Read More
Global Warming Advocates Receive a Chilly Reception from the Supreme Court
Today the Supreme Court took up the case of American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, reviewing a Second Circuit decision finding that states and private… Read More
LawNews
Sotomayor Day 3: A Series of Sneaks
Again, we present a quick wrap up of the day’s events. Perhaps the most significant nomination-related news didn’t come from the hearings but from the… Read More
Sotomayor Quote of the Day
Yes, it’s early in the day, but this one is a winner. Sotomayor, responding to Senator Coburn, on the use of foreign law: “There’s a… Read More
LawNews
How Ricci Was Buried
In response to questioning by Senator Cornyn, Judge Sotomayor explained that, “When parties are dissatisfied, they file for rehearing en banc“–that is, a new hearing… Read More
LawNews
Day Two: Balls, Strikes, and Errors
This post contains some quick takes and many quotations from the first real day of the hearings. Let’s begin with the bottom line: Judge Sonia… Read More
LawNews
The Next Cardozo? Let’s Hope Not
Judge Sonia Sotomayor announced today her admiration for Justice Benjamin Cardozo, who served for 6 years on the Supreme Court after nearly 30 on the… Read More
LawNews
“Equality Requires Effort”
So said Judge Sotomaytor in response to a question by Sen. Kohl on racial discrimination and diversity. But what about Chief Justice Roberts’s elegant statement… Read More
LawNews
Its Own Contradiction
“Life experiences could make a difference,” said Judge Sotomayor in response to a question by Sen. Session. But, she says, “not the result.” So do… Read More
LawNews
Sotomayor’s Unlikely Explanation
Sen. Leahy asked Judge Sotomayor about several of her controversial statements, including this one: Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise… Read More
LawNews
The Supreme Court vs. Sotomayor
The chief complaint with Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s handling of Ricci, the New Haven firefighters case, is not that her court reached the wrong result but… Read More
LawNews
Activism in Action: The Middle School Strip Search Case
Sometimes judicial activism isn’t about who wins the case. It may be that the Supreme Court got it right today when it ruled that school… Read More
Understanding Osborne and Access to DNA Evidence
The immediate reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Osborne case has been both ill-informed and negative. And liberals are already spinning it as… Read More
The Majesty of the Law
It takes an expensive lawyer…scratch that. It takes a very expensive lawyer, from Sullivan & Cromwell no less, to explain to the Supreme Court that… Read More
The Chrysler Stay: Reading the Tea Leaves
The talk shows last night were all atwitter over Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s grant of a temporary stay for the Supreme Court to consider the… Read More
INSTANT ANALYSIS: Supreme Court Delays Sale of Chrysler
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken the extremely rare step of issuing a stay on the sale of Chrysler to… Read More
LawNews
N.Y. Times: Sotomayor Ignores Inconvenient Laws
In its editorial today endorsing Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the New York Times makes a bizarre claim that, if true, is… Read More
LawNews
On Net, No Change? Not Quite
Eight hours later, and it’s already become an old canard: Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s elevation to the High Court won’t affect its balance one bit. It… Read More
LawNews
‘Advice and Consent’ Takes Time
This morning, President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States. While this may seem like… Read More
LawNews
Not a Zero-Sum Game: Replacing Justice Souter Risks a More Activist Court
Though certainly no originalist, Justice David Souter is not a complete judicial activist, either. On a number of cases and issues, he has rejected the… Read More
Nationalizing Chrysler
“Let me be clear: The United States government has no interest in running GM,” President Obama said just three weeks ago. He continued: “We have… Read More
A “Surgical” Bankruptcy for GM?
Bankruptcy law is rich with colorful vernacular: cram-down, strip-down, haircut, matrix, etc. But until a few weeks ago, nobody had ever heard of a “surgical”… Read More
